Amid all this chaos, unnoticed by all, a charred corpse began to stand tall. Protected as he was within the safe zone that Fafnir’s breath created, the last of Cain’s surviving knights watched the scene from beginning to end. Venus’ phalanx crumbled as the crimson world faded, far too many injured, far too many exhausted. He saw Rapture, he saw Lucretia, Rusalka and even Alexander, each one looking forward into the chaotic battle of two fire breathing titans. He formed his blade of Ash, if ever there was a chance to strike, now would be it.

He limped forward, his flesh healed slowly with every step he took. He walked over the slumped bodies of Venus’ survivors, or even kicked them aside. Aegis saw him, but was too exhausted to act. Mortuus saw him, but could only struggle to rise. Alexander opened his eyes and frowned towards the figure who was limping ever closer. Rapture turned, his trident in hand, and frowned as he faced the man. The man didn’t care, he regenerated slowly but surely into a fit condition and then lunged forward to strike the youth down.

Nobody could stop him, even Rapture’s standing up was nothing but a front. Yet, with a bang, a man clad in black scale armour slammed down upon the man’s body. Avance’s boot crushed the man’s skull underfoot, he ended his life as effortlessly as killing an ant. Before him, behind Rapture, stood Ahzi, who was approaching at a slow but steady pace. Both men had turned their clothing, an extension of their own being, into the hide of a dragon. Both men had clad their blades in flames from their respective dragon. Both men were of the same ilk, both men were known by all as the strongest of their respective continents. Such a clash was not unheard of, it had happened many, many times. Avance stepped forward, he glanced towards his stunned son,

“Are you him?” He asked. The boy stared in shock towards the man who stood before him. Such an imposing figure now looked upon him with lost eyes. Should one ask, Rapture could only answer that his mother, even in her weakened state, was the strongest person he had known...and yet, when he faced this man, the feeling of might was all the greater. Yet, despite that imposing power, the man’s eyes were nothing but kind.

“I am,” the boy answered. He didn’t know what he was really doing, he had so many words he wanted to say, yet all of them were just stuck in his throat. Avance stepped forward, then, without taking his eyes off Ahzi’s dreaded form, he patted the boy on the shoulder. That act caused Rapture to be taken aback, he raised his head anew to meet the eye of his father.

“You did well,” He said. Indeed, taking in the sights that surrounded him, his son had done a spectacular job surviving until now. For all his weakness, the boy was no doubt his son...and Beatrix’s too. “You mother must’ve taught you well.” The boy fell silent as the man passed him by. Two words that were stuck in his throat forced their way out, for everyone to hear.

“She’s gone.” Avance paused his steps. The general closed his eyes, breathed in the burning air, and then glared towards Ahzi with a hateful stare. He advanced one step at a time, sapphire embers coating his blade. He passed by Cerus, who limped to her feat and peered back towards her master. Lucretia nodded to her. After taking everything in, she ordered her to protect Avance, for he was Jupiter’s general, Rapture’s father...and Ahzi’s only equal.

“I know,” Avance said as he slammed his blade into the ground and let it burn in the embrace of the twisted blue fire. He advanced, together with Cerus, to meet Ahzi in battle.

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For her part, Cerus was sweating as she walked to Avance’s side. There, standing right before her eyes, was a man she most dreaded. The Dahaka House of the Nidhogg Empire had been the one to whom she belonged. Slaves, like any spoil of war, were distributed based on the merit of the houses involved. She had never suffered any direct abuse under this man’s own hand but she distinctly did remember the day when her city was raised and her kinsmen's blood filled the streets. Though she was only a child, she did indeed remember his completely apathetic gaze, it was as if their lives meant as little to him as wheat in the harvest time.

Avance glanced her way, she could sense his worry, but she wasn’t that same little girl from back then and she assured him so with her gaze. Far off in the distance the azure dragon roared, its bellow shook the landscape as it stomped on the black dragon’s injured body. Fafnir was Dahaka’s equal on a good day, perhaps even its better, but it was outmatched today thanks to the wounds it had from Cain. The sounds of these two behemoths struggling in the distance against each other was alone like a bomb going off. Fafnir fought back, snapping its jaws towards Dahaka’s throat but in the long run it could do so little to stop its foe as it stomped on its head and then let forth a victorious bellow.

Azure flames lit up the sand, turning it to glass as Fafnir belched heat from its maw. Dahaka reached down, its teeth bared to its kinsman’s jugular. In that moment Avance leapt forward, his blade struck down upon Ahzi’s own and in doing so he opened the way forward. Cerus did not bat an eye as she leapt forth, her power alone could turn the tide of that titanic brawl. Ahzi stood tall, he made no efforts to stop her. The two men clashed, then took their distance from one another. They readied their swords, Ahzi’s alone grew a long shaft, transforming into something closer to a spear.

“Just as a formality, what are you after?” Avance inquired.

“His Majesty wills for your death, naturally, I am here to make it so,” Ahzi replied. To that, Avance sneered back, his confident atmosphere yielded no ground before the vanguard’s might.

“So Siggy’s still salty about me stealing his dragon, is he?” Ahzi’s eyes closed into a piercing glare, he didn’t comment, nor retort, he merely thrust his trident forward. The world welcomed a serpentine river of crimson fire. Avance wanted to meet that attack head on, but his instincts ordered him to avoid it. Thus the general leapt to the side, and that act saved his life. Dahaka, the sapphire dragon, belched forth a vast ocean of fire and everything in Avance’s general direction was annihilated by the molten heat. Yet it was then, at that moment, that Cerus reached the beast.

Threads of Ash, fine and numerous, tied around the sapphire dragon’s frame. They turned however, and then became chains that bound shut its titanic maw. Those chains then pulled upon the beast, allowing her to mount its body and frustrate it with her bindings. The black dragon took the opening and stood up once more. Fafnir positioned its horns at the ready, then it tackled the struggling azure dragon over with its failing body. Cerus leapt forth, parting from Dahaka’s back as her chains transformed into a sceptre of Ash. The sceptre had a sharp, spear-like tip, which she then thrust down into the azure dragon’s side.

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The sight of those familiar chains and that familiar sceptre caused Rapture to glance towards Lucretia. The princess’ gaze remained firm, unflinching upon her ally, the last, as far as they knew, survivor of Gemini. That sceptre, those chains, it was not hard to make a connection between the two of them, the both utilised these techniques, both she and Cerus of Gemini. Rusalka, of all of them, was the first to guess at the reason why, the first to realise just what Cerus’ sacrifice must have meant to this princess, her former friend.

“Jupiter has been at war with Nidhogg three times...we created those techniques. Chains to bind the beast, a sceptre to finish it off. An entire arm of our military is devoted to this practice. We call them The Dragon Slayer Corps.” The masses peered forward, they beheld the struggle of that woman mounting the vicious beast.

Some, Rusalka first among them, noticed the symbolic reason for Lucretia to bear this power. Those who practiced this technique did so specifically to bring down Nidhogg’s dragons, they were made for that purpose. Therefore, to the people who hated Nidhogg the most, it was a frequent practice to undertake. That technique symbolised Lucretia’s and Cerus shared hatred towards the Nidhogg Empire...and to the dragons that it bred for war.

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The azure dragon tackled the black dragon back. The chains that bound its frame were shattered and snapped. The beast’s maw pried open, the world once more embraced a sea of crimson. Cerus sought shelter in Fafnir’s shadow, the black dragon responded in kind with a river of sapphire blue fire. Yet, with every clash, every exchange, it was becoming ever clearer who was going to be the victor of this battle.

Cerus began to sweat, her chains shattered and melted. She frowned, then peered to her side as Avance dashed over. The general then fell to his feet beside her, he could fight no longer. With a tired sigh, the man peered towards the blanketed sky. She did not know, not one bit, about his habit. He and Beatrix, who loved each other, both did this from time to time and now, in this battlefield, it symbolised his resignation. He had recognised the reality that he wasn’t able to privale, he was going to die.

“Fafnir...when I die, I pray, please choose one of my sons as your master. I don’t care if Mourn’s betrayed Jupiter, I don’t care if Rapture’s too weak...just...look after them for me.” He had no way of knowing if the dragon heard nor heeded his will. He could not but mutter indignantly as he smiled a bitter smile. “The only thing...I would ask you not to do...is to never choose Sigurd as your master. Let that bastard forever remember that stain upon his honour.” He laughed loudly as Cerus looked upon him with sympathy, she shared his sentiment.

Sigurd, the Emperor of the Nidhogg Empire, had only suffered one major setback in his life...and that was Avance’s very existence. Fafnir was meant to be his partner, yet it chose a bastard, a foreigner, who just so happened to share the thinnest trace of the Fafnir House’s blood, over his purebred self. To die knowing that this was, in Avance’s eyes, the most glorious god damn thing he had done in his life, was a fitting end. He would not die defiant, but even better, he would die proud and mocking his greatest foe. Cerus, seeing that, laughed along with him, if only for a moment.

“You can’t die,” She said, looking solemnly towards him. Her parents had died, her lord too, the most she could do was serve his son and daughter. Yet now, to fuel her, her male avatar, her brother, had also lost his life. That reality struck her hard. She was alone, he wasn’t coming back. Only one thing mattered to her now. Revenge, revenge against Nidhogg, revenge against the entire House of Dahaka. Thus, she did as her people always do, she “switched gears”. Avance’s eyes then opened wide, he beheld a staggering sight.

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The flames died down, Ahzi approached. The black dragon collapsed, finally too tired to put up a fight. There, in its shadow, stood Avance, sword in hand. To the bitter end he faced the Vanguard’s flame clad spear.

“You can strike me down,” He said, smiling through his armour of dragonhide, “But your lord will never forget, that the Black Dragon chose me over him.” The spear thrust forward, it pierced into Avance’s chest, skewering his heart. He smirked, uncaring towards the general’s dying words. Cerus leapt forward, her chains advanced, yet she was incinerated, her body turned to ashes by the azure dragon’s crimson flames.

Fafnir’s eyes opened, it beheld the death of its master, it beheld Avance’s fall. The beast did not express any emotion before that sight, it simply let go of its will to fight. That was, in Ahzi’s eyes, the final proof that he needed, proof that Avance had well and truly died. Thus so, before everyone’s eyes, the general known as Muspelheim’s strongest, was burned to ashes by the blazing spear. Lucretia closed her eyes, for Cerus had died. Rapture beheld the end of the father whom he had only just met. His skin paled, eyes turned bloodshot. Within that moment, everything left him. So powerful was the despair that his Ash, a power forever linked to the mind of its user, seemed to be extinguished.

The power still inhabited his body, that was true but he could no longer call upon it. His trident shattered, it returned to his body and then sank into slumber. All the power he’d honed and refined in his time in Venus disappeared somewhere deep inside of him, perhaps never to emerge again. They watched in silence as the azure dragon seized Fafnir by the neck and then, ignoring the weight that was similar between them, it opened its wings and took to the sky.

And it was like so, that Avance met his demise.